GWML Electification

[Peter Kazmierczak]

I just hope that nobody uses the phrase "lessons will be learnt" in any subsequent report on this project.

[Northroader]

I fancy the 4year old structures around the Kennet bridge were more of a "statement of intent" as they've looked pretty forlorn ever since. Heads will roll? Doubtful, the jobs have been split up with responsibilities spread round any number of government bodies and network rail in a way that can be bounced about quite happily with the buck not stopping anywhere. It ain't like it used to be.

[The Stationmaster]

To be fair, I think those structures were ones that it was convenient to put at an appropriate time during the Reading remodelling and there was never any intention to wire them immediately. 

That is very true Edwin but the simple fact is that in the past 6-9 months or so the necessary components could have been added to them to enable them to be wired.  Thus whilst there are not a complete set of structures between Reading & Didcot on which to hang the wires the equipment and staff which had presumably been lined up for that work in the original timescale could have been employed doing the job in the immediate Reading area.  If one stage of the work is going wrong/running late then why not substitute another stage which would have to be done anyway?

 

Or is that it can't be done because design is not complete (which seems odd - with some of the structures in place that far back)?   I haven't travelled west of Reading for a couple of months nor, especially, this week but with a 2 day shutdown and what seems to be a two track timetable in operation for the following week plenty of productive possession time seems to have been available and not used.  We know that the most productive possessions are those where the engineers can go in for a couple of days, or longer, and not forever lose time taking and giving up the possession or moving plant and trains into and out of it.  

 

20 years ago I got into a quite heated debate with a Trackie Zone Possession Planning Manager who was looking for 4 x 12 hour tamping possessions per annum on a key junction and I turned him down flat (on behalf of my TOC).  To progress things it was finally agreed that we would meet jointly with the tamping contractor - I think the aim was to bludgeon me into submission.  But it backfired on the Trackie man as the first thing i did was ask the tamping man how long he actually wanted and he explained the actual work content was about 18-20 hours at most - he needed extra time to get his machines in and out.  So I then asked him if he could do the whole junction in one hit and he almost bit my hand off saying that was exactly what he had asked Railtrack for - and been told he couldn't have it.  The Trackie man's face was a picture when I told the contractor that as far as I was concerned he could have 27 hours continuous possession and as we were the last operator through before taking the possession and the first after he finished no one else would be involved - the contractor said 'done' and then I added it was over Christmas Day - he again said 'done', and Trackie man's face fell though the floor - served him right.  I ran my trains without trouble and the junction, all 9 point ends of it, was duly tamped - long possessions are at times possible and they can offer great opportunities for more efficient work; any sensible manager would grab those opportunities with both hands and make darned sure he used them.   And any decent senior manager with a big scheme on his patch would be making sure his subordinates were doing the same - a good few months in advance - and he would be out over Christmas looking to see how work was going.

Edited December 30, 2015 by The Stationmaster

[black and decker boy]

Indeed, when planning our smart motorway works, we looked to combine as many trades and as many worksites as possible into each night / weekend closure. Gantry erection in one area, resurfacing in another and barriers / drainage etc in between. We did it to minimise disruption (a client aim) and reduce cost (our aim).

[Captain Kernow]

I was on a train from Langley to Slough on Boxing Day night. All I did was go from Langley to Slough to pick up a crane and take it back to Langley, it took all night. Firstly they wanted me to propel it all the way, trouble was it would have involved propelling out of a worksite and a possession, through a "live Dolphin Jct" and into another possession and worksite. After a bit of phoning they agreed to move it so I could haul it to Langley. But then we had to attach it to the rest of the train that was there and stable it in the sidings. The people on the ground were trying to tell me to do it one way when it was obvious to a railwayman to do it another, the "railwaymen" one that one but I left in my taxi before the move was completed. The main point was that I have not seen so many people with mobile phones stuck to their heads and not one of them seemed to want to make a decision for themselves. And none of them had any idea about train working. And why is it nobody has a lamp these days on these sites to call you forward with, it's a job to see an arm waving in the dark. And those bloody head lights on their hats are a pain when someone is talking at you from the ballast up to the cab, I bet they think I am ignoring them when I look away from them! It does not surprise me it's taking so long going by this lot.

This is very informative, Brian, thanks for sharing.

[Southernman46]

If a Eurostar had run on the ECML at 125 mph it would have brought down a considerable amount of contact and catenary wire, and possibly some headspans before it could be stopped.  The tests found the ECML overhead did some very awkward things as a fast moving train went by with the contact wire moving vertically up & down through at least 6 inches following the passage of the leading pantograph.  If the second pan had encountered that sort of movement in the contact wire it would have de-wired and mayhem would have resulted.

 

Hence major redesign of the 'BR pantograph' on Regional Eurostars plus the need to restrict their speed even after the redesign.  Some SNCf engineers didn't believe the data when it was presented to them in connection with the redesign and they were amazed that the ECML ohle couldn't stand the uplift forces the pans were producing - it simply wasn't stiff enough to resist.

ISTR from my days at Dollands Moor (pre HS1 mind you) that SNCF catenary (basically the design applied to the CT & Dollands Moor area) operates at a higher stiffness than British OLE (hence the double weight stacks seen at Dollands Moor etc).

 

Now back in the day, using a proper traction system, we'd have had the conductor rail laid and energised all the way to Swansea AND up the valleys by now .................

Edited December 31, 2015 by Southernman46

[The Stationmaster]

ISTR from my days at Dollands Moor (pre HS1 mind you) that SNCF catenary (basically the design applied to the CT & Dollands Moor area) operates at a higher stiffness than British OLE (hence the double weight stacks seen at Dollands Moor etc).

 

Now back in the day, using a proper traction system, we'd have had the conductor rail laid and energised all the way to Swansea AND up the valleys by now .................

And a happy new gapping to you too

[jjb1970]

That is very true Edwin but the simple fact is that in the past 6-9 months or so the necessary components could have been added to them to enable them to be wired.  Thus whilst there are not a complete set of structures between Reading & Didcot on which to hang the wires the equipment and staff which had presumably been lined up for that work in the original timescale could have been employed doing the job in the immediate Reading area.  If one stage of the work is going wrong/running late then why not substitute another stage which would have to be done anyway?

 

Or is that it can't be done because design is not complete (which seems odd - with some of the structures in place that far back)?   I haven't travelled west of Reading for a couple of months nor, especially, this week but with a 2 day shutdown and what seems to be a two track timetable in operation for the following week plenty of productive possession time seems to have been available and not used.  We know that the most productive possessions are those where the engineers can go in for a couple of days, or longer, and not forever lose time taking and giving up the possession or moving plant and trains into and out of it.  

 

20 years ago I got into a quite heated debate with a Trackie Zone Possession Planning Manager who was looking for 4 x 12 hour tamping possessions per annum on a key junction and I turned him down flat (on behalf of my TOC).  To progress things it was finally agreed that we would meet jointly with the tamping contractor - I think the aim was to bludgeon me into submission.  But it backfired on the Trackie man as the first thing i did was ask the tamping man how long he actually wanted and he explained the actual work content was about 18-20 hours at most - he needed extra time to get his machines in and out.  So I then asked him if he could do the whole junction in one hit and he almost bit my hand off saying that was exactly what he had asked Railtrack for - and been told he couldn't have it.  The Trackie man's face was a picture when I told the contractor that as far as I was concerned he could have 27 hours continuous possession and as we were the last operator through before taking the possession and the first after he finished no one else would be involved - the contractor said 'done' and then I added it was over Christmas Day - he again said 'done', and Trackie man's face fell though the floor - served him right.  I ran my trains without trouble and the junction, all 9 point ends of it, was duly tamped - long possessions are at times possible and they can offer great opportunities for more efficient work; any sensible manager would grab those opportunities with both hands and make darned sure he used them.   And any decent senior manager with a big scheme on his patch would be making sure his subordinates were doing the same - a good few months in advance - and he would be out over Christmas looking to see how work was going.

A very informative and insightful summary, the more I hear about this scheme the more worrying it is really. I really can only hope that somewhere people are learning and that the program will improve as it proceeds.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

"Lessons will be learnt".

 

Oops, didn't mean to say that..............

[jjb1970]

Unfortunately when you hear that phrase it tends to be received as a triumph of expectation over experience.

[4630]

.

Edited November 15, 2016 by 4630

[JJGraphics]

It's a phrase that, because it appears to be uttered so often now (and automatically) by politicians, CEOs of major companies and Government quangos, I suspect most people now naturally react by thinking;

 

"Yeah.  Right.  Pull the other one."

 

Include me in the "most people" group! That expression makes me cringe in the same way as that Americanism "Have a nice day!" that seems to be uttered at every opportunity with absolutely no sincerity.

[jjb1970]

I think it is one of those expressions that wins points in BS bingo, along with stuff like,

 

holistic

integrated

scalable

adding value

systems approach

solution

out of the box

blue sky thinking

ecosystem (when applied to things that aren't ecosystems)

networking (how that one makes me want to vomit)

footprint

synergy

 

etc etc, in most cases there is nothing wrong with the actual words or expressions, it is the way they've been abused by the sort of people who speak managementese.

[Captain Kernow]

I think it is one of those expressions that wins points in BS bingo, along with stuff like,

 

holistic

integrated

scalable

adding value

systems approach

solution

out of the box

blue sky thinking

ecosystem (when applied to things that aren't ecosystems)

networking (how that one makes me want to vomit)

footprint

synergy

 

etc etc, in most cases there is nothing wrong with the actual words or expressions, it is the way they've been abused by the sort of people who speak managementese.

- Low hanging fruit

- Going forward

- 'the narrative'

[The Stationmaster]

Well I don't think Peter need worry because judging by today's trip to Didcot the last thing which might have been learnt by those running this project is any sort of lesson at all.  Apart from having c.50 hours of no booked service over Christmas and at least two working days of 2 track timetable over c.15 miles of quadruple track between Scours Lane and Moreton Cutting yesterday and today (and probably last Sunday and tomorrow as well) the scale on non-achievement remains breathtaking.

 

There are still a few masts to install between Tilehurst station and Westbury Lane bridge (Purley) yet most other structures are not only complete but have the register arms and other fittings in place which would allow them to be wired.  The same applies between Goring and Cholsey (with a few more masts missing and fewer fittings in place),  and thence to Moreton Cutting.  A series of complete structures with fittings ready to wire punctuated by either missing steelwork or not even a mast on which to erect the steelwork.  But quite a lot of steelwork has gone up at Didcot station - just rather awkward that virtually nothing exists between there and Moreton Cutting (where there are mast missing right on the doorstep of the stockpile!).  The substations at Reading and Pangbourne look ready to connect and no doubt the one at Foxhall is similarly complete.

 

As this section was due to be live - for IEP testing - in September I would have hoped today to see a hive of activity.  What I actually saw was work going on at the river bridge at Lower Basildon erecting structures on the bridge flanks;  I suspect that on the Relief Lines side was done yesterday.  And that was that a 15 mile long worksite available with virtually no work going on when at least two cranes would have had a day's work both yesterday and today.   It might sound very cynical but if it wasn't for what had been done already I would be seriously wondering if NR actually wants to electrify between Reading and Didcot?  An excellent opportunity to throw labour and resources at work that needed to be done and could be safely done in order to quickly enable a substantial amount of wiring to proceed looks as if it has been thrown away.  I wonder why?  I also wonder whether senior NR managers actually ever go out and look at what they are supposedly in charge of and the question why things are not happening?  If I can see it surely they could - if they bothered to looked?

 

Incidentally Goring's new footbridge was supposedly due to be completed in March 2015 - judging by what can be seen from a passing train it looks as if little or nothing has been done although I see that at least the West Car Park footbridge at Didcot is underway.

[The Stationmaster]

- Low hanging fruit

- Going forward

- 'the narrative'

You (and JJB) missed out the most important one of the lot - 'stakeholder'

 

(translation - I believe 'stakeholder' actually means 'the b*g*ers we can blame it on when we're accused of not doing anything' )

[jjb1970]

Roger Ford has been writing about boiling frog syndrome for years and I do worry that the frogs have finally boiled. The whole basis of evaluating performance and efficiency seems to be seriously distorted. I sometimes wonder (and this is not limited to NR, it applies to lots of other things) what sort of railway we could have if the money pumped into the system was spent to good effect. This is not a British disease either, other sectors, even other major rail projects, can be managed efficiently and deliver high quality end products in the UK.

[phil-b259]

While not on the GWML - an example of NR getting things right for a change (thus proving it does happen and NR are not totally incompetent).

 

On the Brighton main line, blockade, as well as renewing 16 ends of points and the base formation at Purley, NR wanted to replace a nearby bridge rail over road bridge (see here :- http://www.londonreconnections.com/2015/study-sussex-part-12-pointless-purley/)  However the replacement of the bridge wasn't due to start untill last Thurday due to resource pressures. When it became clear that the stormy weather was going to make the operation of cranes problematic the job was cancelled so as to avoid an overun on Monday. However rather than pay staff to do nothing, the affected p-way staff and machines were re-deployed to undertake remedial work a few miles further south at Salfords to remove a long standing temporary speed restriction, requiring a last minute possession to be agreed with Southern, extra buses to be booked etc), while the civils staff that were to be involved with the bridge demolition / installation were offered to those in charge of the Sea wall damage in Dover.

Edited January 2, 2016 by phil-b259

[The Stationmaster]

Roger Ford has been writing about boiling frog syndrome for years and I do worry that the frogs have finally boiled. The whole basis of evaluating performance and efficiency seems to be seriously distorted. I sometimes wonder (and this is not limited to NR, it applies to lots of other things) what sort of railway we could have if the money pumped into the system was spent to good effect. This is not a British disease either, other sectors, even other major rail projects, can be managed efficiently and deliver high quality end products in the UK.

There is a miniscule - but I think excellent - example of this sort of nonsense at the AOC level crossing at Shiplake on the Henley branch.  The crossing, upgraded with barriers in recent years but still an AOC was converted from hand-worked gates in the 1970s and thus acquired the associated flashing white light indicators which advise a Driver that the road signals are working and it is in order to proceed.  The light on the station platform side of the crossing - where trains start away from a station stop - was modified to also have a steady red light which remains illuminated until the flashing white starts - simple a small two lens unit sitting on a fairly small diameter post.

 

Recently - after almost 40 years - this has received a separate ladder and landing which overall is far bigger than the post to which it is attached.  Moreover instead of safely working off a ladder anyone now attending (extremely infrequently) the lamp unit has no choice but to stand or kneel (if there's room?) on the landing.  Not only is it an utterly ridiculous waste of money but the lamp unit is well below the legally required working height for a protected ladder and landing - in fact you could probably reach part of it off a stepladder.  In addition as anyone into industrial safety might know these sort of ladder arrangements, and ladders with so called 'safety protection' around them already have a  higher accident rate that a simple, open. ladder and are now being warned against by the HSE.  

 

Basically a total waste of money, in my view probably more dangerous than the previous 'lean a ladder against it' arrangement, and definitely a far more awkward working position for anyone attending the lamp unit.  Very much a boiling frog issue as it is the trickle of small item spending such as this which mounts up into big numbers.

[black and decker boy]

Regulars trotted out at work

First and foremost

Sustainability (when in reality discussing making more profit and not meaning being a green business)

Road map / route map

Above and beyond

Exemplar

[Re6/6]

There is a miniscule - but I think excellent - example of this sort of nonsense at the AOC level crossing at Shiplake on the Henley branch.  The crossing, upgraded with barriers in recent years but still an AOC was converted from hand-worked gates in the 1970s and thus acquired the associated flashing white light indicators which advise a Driver that the road signals are working and it is in order to proceed.  The light on the station platform side of the crossing - where trains start away from a station stop - was modified to also have a steady red light which remains illuminated until the flashing white starts - simple a small two lens unit sitting on a fairly small diameter post.

 

Recently - after almost 40 years - this has received a separate ladder and landing which overall is far bigger than the post to which it is attached.  Moreover instead of safely working off a ladder anyone now attending (extremely infrequently) the lamp unit has no choice but to stand or kneel (if there's room?) on the landing.  Not only is it an utterly ridiculous waste of money but the lamp unit is well below the legally required working height for a protected ladder and landing - in fact you could probably reach part of it off a stepladder.  In addition as anyone into industrial safety might know these sort of ladder arrangements, and ladders with so called 'safety protection' around them already have a  higher accident rate that a simple, open. ladder and are now being warned against by the HSE.  

 

Basically a total waste of money, in my view probably more dangerous than the previous 'lean a ladder against it' arrangement, and definitely a far more awkward working position for anyone attending the lamp unit.  Very much a boiling frog issue as it is the trickle of small item spending such as this which mounts up into big numbers.

 

NR is fast becoming so averse to the slightest perceived  'risk' they seem to be approaching the insanity of many local authorities with their uninformed edicts and enforcements.

[Clearwater]

I think these points are highlighting the'Daily Fail' paradox.

 

"Why oh why oh why was this terrible tragedy allowed to happen? Our spineless MPs must immediately pass legislation to prevent it happening again.

 

Britain's nanny state is drowning in red tape as MPs pass yet more laws"

 

David

[m0rris]

There is a miniscule - but I think excellent - example of this sort of nonsense at the AOC level crossing at Shiplake on the Henley branch.  The crossing, upgraded with barriers in recent years but still an AOC was converted from hand-worked gates in the 1970s and thus acquired the associated flashing white light indicators which advise a Driver that the road signals are working and it is in order to proceed.  The light on the station platform side of the crossing - where trains start away from a station stop - was modified to also have a steady red light which remains illuminated until the flashing white starts - simple a small two lens unit sitting on a fairly small diameter post.

 

Recently - after almost 40 years - this has received a separate ladder and landing which overall is far bigger than the post to which it is attached.  Moreover instead of safely working off a ladder anyone now attending (extremely infrequently) the lamp unit has no choice but to stand or kneel (if there's room?) on the landing.  Not only is it an utterly ridiculous waste of money but the lamp unit is well below the legally required working height for a protected ladder and landing - in fact you could probably reach part of it off a stepladder.  In addition as anyone into industrial safety might know these sort of ladder arrangements, and ladders with so called 'safety protection' around them already have a  higher accident rate that a simple, open. ladder and are now being warned against by the HSE.  

 

Basically a total waste of money, in my view probably more dangerous than the previous 'lean a ladder against it' arrangement, and definitely a far more awkward working position for anyone attending the lamp unit.  Very much a boiling frog issue as it is the trickle of small item spending such as this which mounts up into big numbers.

 

Another example along those lines was we required some doors at a major UK railway station managed by NR to be replaced, NR ended up paying a five figure sum to replace two doors...

 

The biggest issue with NR is the missing gap in management, it has many root causes but the end result is severe knowledge deficiencies in some departments. Whilst it is area dependent, it's shown by the age of many managers in NR, my impression from those I have met and seen is that where you'd have someone with 20+ years experience performing a role, you end up with someone with 10 years instead, aside from a few old BR/Railtrack hands it is a remarkably young management team. All this is then made worse by the constant loss of many promising managers to the Middle East and TOCs.

[olivegreen]

NR is fast becoming so averse to the slightest perceived  'risk' they seem to be approaching the insanity of many local authorities with their uninformed edicts and enforcements.

 Ref Re6/6's post and many others before it - I sympathise greatly.  

(and a bit off-topic, I accept, but…)  

I worked for a number of years in a risk-related business during which I spent so much time trying to get into too many people's heads that the 'P' in ALARP means 'practicable', and not 'possible' that I eventually gave up. (And now do something far more interesting and less stressful!)  I must emphasise that I am not a railway man, but it is the 'possible' brigade that led to justifying (if indeed such justification ever took place) such utter wastes of money IMHO as, for example, the platform protections on the Jubilee Line extension, when the rest of the existing line (and, at the time, the entire UK rail network) had none and, no doubt, to the sort of things that the Stationmaster and others far better informed than I have referred to in the context of the GWML electrification among others.

[jjb1970]

Regulars trotted out at work

First and foremost

Sustainability (when in reality discussing making more profit and not meaning being a green business)

Road map / route map

Above and beyond

Exemplar

Few words make me cringe more than sustainable! In my last role I was the technical authority for engines and head of engine emissions certification for a marine classification society which meant a large part of my job was emissions related and advising various governments on emissions matters. Which was a great job except that it meant I had to attend a lot of meetings with environment "professionals" who included "sustainable" in every sentence, knew about the importance of switching lights off and used all sorts of impressive words but were utterly clueless on the science of emissions, the metrology of measuring emissions and machinery efficiency. Sadly I haven't left that behind as just before Christmas in my new role a major government asked me to advise on their idea of using raw engine emissions and fuel consumption data to measure the efficiency and emissions of ships with zero consideration of hull form, propulsors etc. They really could not understand why the raw engine data is essential in terms of engine certification but essentially meaningless in terms of ship performance. And that is without even going into the simple matter that emissions testing and certification is based on standardised cycles and emissions which mean nothing in the real world.